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The Islandian Times
Sunday, September 21, 2008
San Dimas Ends Strong, RU South Victor
1st - San Dimas Rancheros (82-72)
The San Dimas Rancheros came on strong in the second half (44-33) of the RU South and overtook everybody to capture the crown by four games over Crystal Lake and Waleska... The Rancheros were fourth at mid-season and three games off the pace. Manager Paco Banderos' team was paced by Ray Watson (19-12 3.94) with a second-half surge... Roberto Silvas (14-5 3.62) was a consistent winner as well... Carl Schmitz (14-16 4.00) had a disappointing season... at the plate San Dimas was sparked by 1B Ron Armstrong (.294/27 HR/101 RBI/100R) and C Wesley Pate (.330/12 HR/66 RBI).
2nd tied - Crystal Lake Crushers (78-76)
Free agents kept Crystal Lake in the hunt for most of the season as the Crushers wound up second and four games off the pace... 1B Phil Gravelli (.319/30 HR/107 RBI/84 R), RF Earl Giles (.297/27 HR/95 RBI/74 R), 2B Cristian Avajos (.289/23 HR/86 RBI) and C Todd Simons (.289/14 HR/68 RBI) headed up the strong attack... on the hill it was starters Phil Varnado (16-15 3.82) and Pablo Orantes (17-19 3.96) along with an outstanding closer in Jeff Jernigan (4-6 1.63), who piled up 35 saves and was second in the IPA.
2nd tied – Waleska Westerners (78-76)
Pitching was Waleska's best attribute as the Westerners finished in a tie for the second spot, four games back... a 21-27 record in August and September cost Waleska the pennant... top hurlers were Wilson Whitmore (20-14 2.76), Von Pearce (17-15 3.78) and Buddy Kennedy (12-9 3.94)... lack of home-run power hurt the Westerners... top batters were LF Johnny Stratton (.314/19 HR/96 RBI/97 R), 3B Grant Betzer (.297/13 HR/93 RBI?83 R), CF Harold Setser (.284/15 HR/90 RBI/75 R), 2B DePaul Labat (.293/10 HR/52 RBI/109 R/55 SB) and C Vito Belasario (.314/3 HR/61RBI).
4th – St. John Crusaders (77-77)
Last year division winner St. John also suffered a second-half slump and ended up in fourth place and five games behind champion San Dimas... the Crusaders slipped to 19-29 over the last two months... poor hitting was the main culprit... RF Clayton Luck (.315/11 HR/72 RBI/95 R/34 SB) and 3B Sully Hull (.262/14 HR/77 RI/67 R) were the best St. John had at the plate... on the mound Teddy Garson (15-14 2.92) excelled... Glynn Morgan (12-8 3.82) also had a good season.
5th – Claxton Diamonds (75-79)
The Claxton Diamonds could put runs on the scoreboard, but so could the opposition... consequently Stacy Engel's crew frequently was outscored and tumbled to fifth place this season, 7 games off the pace... Claxton was 34-43 in the second half of the year... 1B Mike Luzzatti has a great season with a .329 batting average, led the IPA with 51 homers and was second with 124 RBIs and 130 runs scored... He and RF Dixie Baker formed the best 1-2 punch in the IPA... Baker (.273 BA) stood out with 41 roundtrippers and 119 runs batted in... also lending a hand were 3B Artie Sherman (.295/23 HR/93 RBI/96 R) and LF Helmut Gracyzk (.291/20 HR/83 RBI/105 R)... the Diamonds exploded for 197 homers this year, second to Taranto's 223... Carlo Funicello (15-6 4.28) and Charlie Murphy (13-14 3.54) were Claxton's best arms.
6th – Belair Beach Sunbirds (72-82)
For the second time in its history Belair Beach finished under the .500 mark and 10 games out of the division lead... the prime reason Belair Beach had its second-worst season ever was its pitching... the Sunbirds still hit the ball very well despite losing several stars to free agency... Manager Marty Pedroza still has an explosive line-up with 1B Bo Taylor (.291/24 HR/97 RBI/10 SB), CF Billy Martz (.319/20 HR/89 RBI/103 R/14 SB), C Little Jake Bungarooba (.318/15 HR/85 RBI/90 R/18 SB), 3B Zippy Parks (.303/10 HR/67 RBI/83 R/35 SB) and SS Ronnie Nossek (.292/19 HR/56 RBI/104 R/16 SB)... Pedroza pitching rotation could use quite a bit improvement... Jeff Nieman (19-13 3.99) was his only dependable hurler.
7th – Valka Blackhawks (66-88)
Valka skipper Jaan Kurus had another down year and trailed first place San Dimas by 16 games, finishing seventh in the RU South standings... lousy pitching was the problem (4.67 ERA)... Connie Krueger (18-13 3.36) was the only capable starter, all the others were dismal... the Blackhawks top hitters were RF Jimmy Tremayne (.330/12 HR/75 RBI/102 R), 3B Buddy Petrisko (.300/89 RBI/78 R) and LF Tony Blundell (.280/18 HR/85 RBI/74 R).
8th – Grand City Cybercats (64-90)
Manager Torry Joseph's pitching went to the dogs this season as the Grand City Cybercats spiraled downward from second place last year to last place in 2008, 18 games back... ace Paul Felkner went from 22-12 and a 3.40 ERA last year to 15-18 4.08 this year, but did pitch much better in the second half... Rookie of the Year last year Emmitt Yates found it tougher going in his sophomore season with a 17-18 mark with a 3.50 ERA... in 2007 Yates had a remarkable 19-6 record with a sensational 2.09 ERA... Never much of a hitting team in its history, the Cybercats top batters were RF Russ Baumer (.324/14 HR/82 RBI) and 1B Marlin Kiefer (.288/5 HR/66 RBI/78 R).
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